St. Louis Rams – Blog

– On third-and-11 from the Rams 49, Bradford floated a long one down the left side for Givens who burned Greg Toler, hauled it in and scored from 51 yards out to make it 17-3 Rams with 11;49 to go.

– Arizona starts from its 20 with an 8-yard completion to Roberts.

– Williams gained 12 yards but took a shot from Stewart and is injured. He’s up though and walks off on his own.

– Scary moment there.

– Arizona overcame some big penalties with completions for gains of 14, 17, 19 and 11 to get to the Rams’ 9.

– An incompletion on first down and a 6-yard completion to FB Anthony Sherman set up third and goal from the 3.

– The defense does it again, getting a stop on fourth down to give it back to the offense with 5:25 to go at the Rams 3.

– Time to start the four minute drill early, run the ball, move the chains.

– Jackson gained nothing on first down.

– Quinn Ojinnaka leaves with an injury, Shelley Smith in at LG.

– Jackson gained 7 on second down to set up a third-and-3.

– Jackson was stopped for a loss of 1 on third-and-3. But FB Brit Miller was hurt on the play. Rams having major injury issues tonight.

– This one stopped the clock. Miller helped off.

– Big punt for the rookie Hekker here, have to make Arizona drive it.

– Not his best effort as Peterson brings it back 26 yards to the Rams’ 38.

– Defense gets it done again with a stop in the red zone as Finnegan gets the team’s eighth sack of the game on fourth down.

– Rams get it back at their 20.

– Jackson runs for no gain on first down, loses 3 on second at the 2-minute warning.

– Punt it away Arizona gets it at Rams’ 45 with 1:40 to go.

– On first down, Quinn broke through for his third sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by DE William Hayes.

– Rams over .500 for first time since November, 2006.

Third Quarter

– Arizona started at its 20.

– Quick three and out for the defense as Quinn made a nice play on first down against the run, dropping Williams for a loss of 4.

– The Rams get it at their 36 to start the second half. Defense on fire tonight so far.

– Three and out for the offense. Missing Amendola and a rough series for Givens there.

– Rams defense gets another three and out. Rams take over at their 43.

– The Rams powered up with the run game, as Jackson carried four straight times for 28 yards to Arizona’s 29.

– Richardson gained 4 and Jackson got 5 more on third and 1.

– On third and six at Arizona’s 16, Bradford lofted on for Quick in the right corner but Peterson made a terrific interception to kill the drive. A costly miss for the Rams there. Arizona gets it at the 20 and the Rams get no points out of it.

– Arizona converted on third and 15 when Kolb kept a play alive and found Fitzgerald for 29 yards.

– But the defense got it done again as William Hayes picked up a sack.

– The Cardinals punted again and the Rams take over at their 11 with 2:19 to go.

– Richardson ripped off a gain of 16 and 5 before losing 4. On third and 9, Gibson caught a 9-yard pass for a first down.

– At the end of the third, the Rams lead 10-3.

Second Quarter

– Chris Long registers his first sack of the game and third of the season, dropping Kolb on third down for a loss of 10.

– The Rams get it back at their 7.

– They picked up 11 when Bradford hit Gibson but a drop by Kendricks and two missed connections, including one to a wide open Amendola forced the Rams to punt.

– Hekker boomed another one, this time out of bounds to swing field position. Arizona takes over at its 14.

– Punt traveled 68 yards with no return.

– Three and out for the defense. Rams start at midfield again.

– Jackson got the drive started with a 12-yard run. He picked up 2 on the second play but Bradford and Amendola just missed a deep connection on third down.

– K Greg Zuerlein knocked it through from 53 yards out to make it 10-3 Rams with 10:45 to go in the half. A chip shot for Young G.Z.

– Arizona started from its 20.

– The Rams got bailed out on some missed opportunities down the field but ultimately got a stop on a third down drop.

– The Rams take over at their 4.

– A three and out didn’t hurt as bad as Amendola suffering a shoulder injury when he attempted to make a catch on third down.

– His return is questionable and Arizona takes over at th 50.

– On first down, Kolb hit Housler for a gain of 13 to the Rams’ 37.

– A sack by Robert Quinn pushed the Cardinals back 9.

– After a couple first downs, the Rams got the stop when Feely missed from 40 yards out.

– Rams take over at their 30.

– Three and out again as Bradford is dropped for a sack on third down.

– Hekker dropped another perfect punt after two penalties. 57 yards and out of bounds at the Arizona 6.

– Jo-Lonn Dunbar picked up a sack on second down but the Cardinals benefited from a very questionable roughing the passer penalty on third down to keep the drive alive.

– Completions for 10 and 8 yards set up a third-and-2 at Arizona’s 43.

– The Rams got the stop as Fitzgerald made the veteran move and grabbed Jenkins’ facemask, preventing a pick that would have been a touchdown. No flag again but the Rams head to the locker room with a 10-3 lead.

First Quarter

– The Rams received and started at their 31 after a 35-yard return from Chris Givens.

– They wasted not time taking to the skies and QB Sam Bradford really delivered.

– On the first play, Bradford stood tall in the face of pressure and WR Brandon Gibson made a spectacular leaping catch for 14.

– On the second play, Bradford again faced the rush and delivered a deep ball to WR Danny Amendola who made an amazing one handed grab for 44 yards to Arizona’s 11.

– Two plays later, Bradford kept a play alive, rolling to his left and delivering a 7-yard strike to TE Lance Kendricks for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead for the Rams.

– The top nearly came off the dome right after as Kurt Warner was introduced to an adoring crowd. Deafening.

– Arizona started its first drive from the 20 and picked up two first downs with third down conversions to its 44.

– The Cardinals converted another third and short as Williams picked up 3 on third-and-1 at the Rams 47.

– Another 6 from Williams gave Arizona first down at the Rams’ 30.

– Eventually, the Rams got the stop with a couple of incompletions and Arizona settled for a 35-yard field goal from Jay Feely.

– With 3:15 to go in the first quarter, the Rams lead 7-3.

– The Rams started again at their 20.

– Three and out for the offense, not a good answer to a long drive as the defense was just on the field for a 17-play drive.

– Strong punt by Johnny Hekker to the sideline was a 9-yard return from Peterson. Arizona starts at its 29.

– On first down, Kolb hit Fitzgerald for 19.

– At the end of the first quarter, Arizona has a third-and-6 at the Rams’ 48. St. Louis leads 7-3.

Pregame Notes

– Greetings from the Edward Jones Dome where the Rams and Cardinals are preparing to square off in primetime on Thursday Night Football.

– Both sides come in riding the high of important wins last week, with the Rams knocking off the Seahawks and Arizona beating Miami.

– The Cardinals, of course, are riding the wave of a four-game win streak and come in undefeated. The Rams are 2-2 and looking to go over .500 for the first time since November of 2006.
– As expected, the Rams are in all blue again tonight. They have won both home games in that uniform combination and hope to keep the good karma rolling tonight.

– Of note for the Cardinals: QB John Skelton, WR LaRod Stephens-Howling and TE Todd Heap are inactive.

– The Rams will honor legendary QB Kurt Warner in the first quarter of tonight’s game. He’s in town with the NFL Network doing his thing. Fun to see he and Marshall Faulk working together on the field where they made so much offensive harmony together.